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Topic: Picked up an anvil today (Read 458 times)

As we were walking through this antique store we visit every couple of months the wife goes isn't that what you have been looking for? I turned around and saw 2 anvils sitting on the back of a table, I couldn't believe I didn't see them. After checking them out and talking to the store owner about the price this little 100 pound Fisher anvil made the trip home with us. Still doing some research on this brand of anvil, what I have read is they have little ring and excellent rebound.

After getting home and getting the anvil on the back of the truck I grabbed a hammer and a 1 inch ball bearing to do some rebound tests. I'm assuming the rebound would be better on a well built anvil stand, to be built later, the hammer bounced well off of the anvil and the ball bearing dropped from 15 inches bounced all the way back to my hand.

I have been wanting to get into blacksmithing after attending the local rendezvous here in Florida with the tribe. I have purchased a pair tongs here, a hammer there, but could never find a decent anvil weight and price through our shopping adventures. Looking forward to building a stand and then pounding some metal.

I go to a few farm auctions and while there are not many anvils sold these days you do get to see some interesting stands in some of the old shops. Lots of them are just a big section of tree trunk wide enough to stand up to the use. A few are cut down steel barrels that probably started as 30 gallon barrels and are filled with sand or concrete. There have been some made of wood that were built to hold the anvil without chaining it down by using blocks of wood bolted to the top that fit into the bottom outline of the anvil.

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A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. (Mark Twain)

I go to a few farm auctions and while there are not many anvils sold these days you do get to see some interesting stands in some of the old shops. Lots of them are just a big section of tree trunk wide enough to stand up to the use. A few are cut down steel barrels that probably started as 30 gallon barrels and are filled with sand or concrete. There have been some made of wood that were built to hold the anvil without chaining it down by using blocks of wood bolted to the top that fit into the bottom outline of the anvil.

Thanks Stan, not many farm auctions down here so the best options I have seen is on Craigslist. Thanks for the internet I have seen the blocks of wood that you have mentioned.

Nice score Ron. If your going to do a wood stand use the end grain set up like the first video, you want it solid with No flex and as heavy as possible, Put a layer of liquid nails or some such between the anvil and the stand, it'l kill the ring somewhat. It sounds cool in the movies but you do not want to listen to that all day. You also want a solid mount to the stand, U-Bolts, all thread and clamps..Lots of ways to do it. That one looks like its got some life left in it yetEnjoy

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Maker of all things Archaic, Hoarder of Gear and Fluent speaker of BSSixfooter got bit by a snake like that once, then after 4 agonizing days... The snake finally died....

sad thing with trying to find a good anvil these days is , cause of anvil hoarders no kidding, not too long agoyou could find anvils for a dollar a pound, nowadays6'dollars a,lb and up. there's some guy out here'with amachine shed full of the darn things i hear hundreds of them.can't wait for that auction when the time comes.

Nice score Ron. If your going to do a wood stand use the end grain set up like the first video, you want it solid with No flex and as heavy as possible, Put a layer of liquid nails or some such between the anvil and the stand, it'l kill the ring somewhat. It sounds cool in the movies but you do not want to listen to that all day. You also want a solid mount to the stand, U-Bolts, all thread and clamps..Lots of ways to do it. That one looks like its got some life left in it yetEnjoy

Thank you Danny, I plan on doing the vertical post with the end grain up.

I just gave a real nice 175# anvil away to an aspiring young knifemaker here in town. With my shoulder surgeries and additional old-fart maladies growing worse by the year, I figured l'd rather see it stay in the area than sell it on the open market. I gave it to him with the stipulation that he passes it on to another local young 'smith' (still unknown to us both) when he no longer has a use for it. I also told him that I'd be watching his progress and when I thought he was up to the task and could meet my expectations, I would expect him to forge and finish a knife for me that was worthy of the coveted WOLFY APPROVED Award of Excellence!

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The only chance you got at a education is listenin' to me talk!Augustus McCrae.....Texas Ranger Lonesome Dove, TX

Picked up this 4.5 inch post leg vise on Back Friday from the same store the anvil came from. The vise is from Iron City Works and was made before 1959. I really need to get to work and make some stands for these tools. The interesting part of the story: is we went to dinner with some family members and were walking through a parking lot and everyone was wondering why I was zig zagging through the parking lot and I found a cool $100 dollar bill and a few ones laying on the ground. So the leg vise was free and I bought ice cream for everyone.

I picked one of those post vises up at a farm auction four or five years ago. Don't remember the exact price but it wasn't very much. Have not seen one since. I have used it a couple of times but not in the way they were intended.

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A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. (Mark Twain)

The only real reason that they are desirable in a smithy is because you can beat the hell out of whatever you have in the vise jaws without breaking the vise-jaws through heavy shock. The shock is transferred to the smithy's floor through the leg. Most of them rest that 'foot' on a big disc or round of hardwood and then there is no bounce in the workpiece.

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The only chance you got at a education is listenin' to me talk!Augustus McCrae.....Texas Ranger Lonesome Dove, TX

Yours seems to have a good, heavy spring that keeps the jaws open. Some of them are missing that spring.....still usable, but not nearly as handy, especially when you are busy with a red-hot piece of iron, a hammer or wrench and trying to position things all at the same time. Looks like you got a good one there, greyhound!

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The only chance you got at a education is listenin' to me talk!Augustus McCrae.....Texas Ranger Lonesome Dove, TX